TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Top-ranked Alabama routed Arkansas 48-7 on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium to improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Razorbacks are 2-6, 0-5.
SATURDAY'S STAR
Only time will tell as far as what kind of career Alabama redshirt sophomore quarterback Mac Jones will assemble. What if Saturday winds up being his one and only start? If it was, he certainly made the most of it. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Jacksonville, Florida, completed 18 of 22 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns for an efficiency rating of 216.5. Jones benefited from a Crimson Tide defense that produced two first-quarter turnovers that helped result in a 17-0 advantage after the first 15 minutes.
SATURDAY'S STAT
Saturday marked the first time in coach Nick Saban's 13 seasons in Tuscaloosa that his starting quarterback was out with an injury. John Parker Wilson (2007-08), Greg McElroy (2009-10), AJ McCarron (2011-13), Blake Sims (2014), Jake Coker (2015), Jalen Hurts (2016-17) and Tua Tagovailoa (2018-19) never missed a start until Tagovailoa's high-ankle sprain last week against Tennessee resulted in him being sidelined against the Razorbacks. Saban said Saturday that Tua is "doing better than expected" in his recovery.
TURNING POINT
Arkansas drove the ball slightly past midfield with the game's opening possession and forced Alabama on its first drive to settle on a 31-yard Joseph Bulovas field goal. That wasn't a bad script to start the game for Razorbacks coach Chad Morris. On the second possession for the Razorbacks, however, a mishandled shotgun snap resulted in a fumble that freshman inside linebacker Christian Harris raced 37 yards to the Arkansas 14. Jones connected with Henry Ruggs III for a touchdown on the next play, and the rout was on.
HIGHLIGHT PLAY
Remember the memorable scramble that Tua Tagovailoa provided during the third quarter of the national championship game of the 2017 season, which the Tide ultimately won 26-23 over Georgia in overtime? Well, little brother isn't too shabby either in the elusiveness department. After entering the game in the third quarter, freshman Taulia Tagovailoa ran away from defenders and out of trouble on third-and-8 before connecting with running back Brian Robinson for an 8-yard gain to the 32.
WHAT IT MEANS
Alabama had the easy part Saturday when it came to setting up the Nov. 9 showdown between the top-ranked Tide and No. 2 LSU, which held off No. 9 Auburn 23-20 in Baton Rouge. Both Alabama and LSU have an open date ahead, but the hype will be sizable for college football's top regular-season game of this season and the biggest Alabama-LSU regular-season game since the top-ranked Tigers downed the No. 2 Tide 9-6 in overtime at Tuscaloosa in 2011. A higher score in Bryant-Denny can be expected this time.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.